Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I haven't done any stamping over layering of glitter polish lately for some reason. I actually know the reason........I've been so busy and haven't had a lot of time to plan a mani (sometimes it takes me as long or longer to pick the polishes and plates than it does to actually do my nails!). So I've pretty much been doing stamping over holo's and cremes. Anyway, not too long ago, I decided to do a layering mani with some glitter and chose a glitter that I hadn't used before; this is what I came up with!

Started with a base of OPI Planks A Lot; this is two coats, no topcoat.

Topped OPI Planks A Lot with one coat of Alyssa by Amy's Nail Boutique. No topcoat.

Here's a bottle shot of Alyssa by Amy's Nail Boutique. I picked it up via Amy's Nail Boutique Etsy shop here. I have a fair amount of these fine glitter polishes that are similar to Floam ; they are very versatile simply by changing up the polish base. They also make an interesting base for stamping....to me, anyway!

I thought this was pretty cool just like it is, but as anyone who may have checked out my blog before knows, there aren't a whole lot of mani's that I don't do some type of stamping over. I remembered that the new FUN stamping plates had arrived in the mail and I hadn't done too many mani's with them; after checking them out for an image that would let the base show through with the stamping, I decided upon an image from FUN 3. Stamped using white Konad special polish.

Topped with HK Girl Fast Dry Topcoat. You can tell even by this pix that the glitter is a topcoat eater but I left it with one coat. Those that this would bother should probably add a coat of Gelous and then topcoat again.

Here's a closer look at FUN 3 by FAB UR NAILS.

Fantastic images! I have so many ideas; I just need some time! (Which seems to be the story of my life lately!)

After wearing this mani for a day, I decided to matte it using Essie Matte About You.

I couldn't decide if I liked it more matte or shiny.....regardless, this is an awesome stamp that shows off the polish base really well....plus has built in dots! I love to add dots to my mani's! lol!

While there are no pix of this, I did use Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter A-Peel before adding base, polish and glitter because I knew I was layering with glitter on top of the base coat and am not too much of a fan of glitter removal. Removal wasn't nearly as easy off the nail like it is using a glitter bomb. A glitter bomb, the polish pretty much pops right off. With the creme base, it took more effort and came off in strips; not all at once.

One last thing; and it may seem a little silly but it is an issue to any nail blogger....you will notice the remnants of a terrible hangnail on my ring finger in these pix (and trust me, this pix is tame compared to others yet to come, I'm sorry to say). If I had more time, I'd figure out how to edit the ouchie so as not to assault everyone with it; or add a little watermark pix to hide it. But unfortunately, time is an issue and I simply don't have the time (or desire) to do this. So there is going to be a few...maybe 7-9ish mani's....that have hangnails in a variety of stages on various fingers popping up. I thought about posting them all at once and calling them 'The Hangnail Series'....but some of the pix I'm saving for challenges that are coming up in September so they will be smattered here and there as I get around to posting them. I apologize in advance for this; not much I can do except not post them at all but I thought I had some pretty cool mani's, hangnails and all, so please try to overlook the hangnail and just look at the nails! I know this may seem kind of silly too; I mean, there are serious world events, life threatening matters and much more traumatic occurrences other than hangnails to worry about. But I know from reading posts on nail boards and FB groups that this kind of thing does bother people enough that they won't follow a particular blog or will unfollow when they see it (as well as poor cleanup, bad cuticles, off nail shape, etc). But I'm guessing if you are reading this, that it doesn't bother you as there's lots of all of these issues on this blog already!!! Anyway, don't say I didn't warn you!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby boy yesterday! Here's the mani I came up with for the joyous event!

Starting at the thumb and going clockwise, the polishes used are SpaRitual Circle of Life, China Glaze Bahamian Escape, Essie Avenue Maintain, L'Oreal Royally Yours (how appropriate!!) and OPI No Room for the Blues; two coats each; topped with SV.

Stamped with various images from plates MJ VIII (full size image on index finger); OB39 (thumb), SdP 66 (crown on pinky - on further down pix), MJ II (hands and wording It's a Boy on index, rattle on pinky), and Big SdP K (full size image on ring finger). Polishes used were white, royal purple and red Konad special polishes and turquoise Mundo de Unas stamping polish.

I did such a terrible job of lining up the double stamping needed to create the flag on the thumb using the OB39 plate, so had to hand paint in some of the lines....but did better than I thought considering it was my first attempt! Hopefully with a bit of practise, I can eventually do some double stamping better!

Monday, July 22, 2013

When in doubt, wear holo is my current motto! So if I'm pressed for time, can't decide on a colour, or a finish or a layering combination, I've been reaching for holo's. It was no surprise when I looked in my archived mani's to discover I have at least seven holo mani's that I haven't posted yet; this is one of them that I had on back in mid-June.

Started with a base of two coats of Jade Fascinio Violeta.

Different lighting...but still gorgeous!

Stamped using Chez Floral 001 with white Konad special polish.

Topped with HK Girl fast drying topcoat.

With holo's this beautiful, it's no wonder I keep on reaching for them time and time again!

Friday, July 19, 2013

The world lost a beautiful young girl earlier this week. As announced on Angels for Talia, Talia Joy Castellano earned her angel wings on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 11:22 am. The last picture that she had posted to her Instagram page was trio of mint mani's of her mom, sister and herself. It had been suggested by Nail Polish Wars that the nail community do Mint Mani's for Talia today; this is what I came up with.

Started with a base of two coats of Orly Basket Case and Orly Gumdrop; topped with SV.

Stamped a few random stars using red Konad special polish using an image from SdP 57.

Added random dots throughout in an attempt to bling it out as I had seem from pix that Talia had really loved the use or colour and had lots of bold, colourful mani's!

Topped with SV to finish.

I finished this mani around 3 am last night (this morning!) and my eyes were a little blurry and I had a hard time to get my phone to take a focused pix (or maybe it was the blur in the eyes; not sure!) so I didn't have that great selection of pix to share. I took another this morning outside in case I could get a better one; it's OK, but still not the best.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I immediately knew I *needed* this colour in my stash when I first seen it; unfortunately, it took me at least one, if not two, llarowe restocks before I was able to snag it but I eventually did; here's Girly Bits Bachelor's Button stamped using a new MJ plate.

Started with a base of two coats of Girly Bits Bachelor's Button; no topcoat.

How gorgeous is this?!!! I'm on the fence if I *need* a backup bottle. I've been *trying* not to buy backups as I already have so many bottles of polish that there's little chance I'll ever use one bottle of a particular colour; never mind the need for a backup (except in some cases like my go to white base, for example)....but I still can't part with the backups I already have...and I still find myself buying backups even when I've been telling myself not to!

Stamped using white Konad special polish using MJ IX.

(Lol, I just seen the pink polish I had on my thumb right now in these pix...not very good cleanup apparently! A more conscientious blogger would edit it out, but I barely have time to do posts, never mind a while lot of pix and blog editing so it stays and everyone will have to look at it!)

Anyway, unfortunately, when my nails get long, they get curvy so the stamping didn't get all to the tips; it was especially noticeable on the index finger, so I filled it in using a thin brush, but didn't do a very good job! I'm not sure what is worse; the missing stamping or the poor fill in!

Topped with SV to finish.

(This pix is before SV; just better holo showing through the stamping so wanted to share too!)

A few pix of MJ IX.

These new MJ plates are available here! It also seems Girly Bits has a new online store here; Girly Bits is also available via llarowe and is in stock now at Harlow & Company!

My Online Shop was good enough to send along extra plates with my recent plate order, which will be part of an upcoming giveaway! Be sure to watch for details coming soon!

Monday, July 15, 2013

This weekend was the Indy 500 in Toronto; while I didn't attend, I thought it was a good time to do an Indy 500 mani....as well as gave me an excuse to use a few images from a newly released plate, MJ XXII; this is what I came up with!

Started with a base of two coats of OPI Bride's Bouquet, with an accent of Nubar Faded Jeans, then topped with SV.

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About Me

I discovered Konad a few years ago and it has captivated me ever since! I have a large polish and plate stash that keeps on growing! The biggest challenge I have lately is...what polish with what plate!
If you're interested in a polish swap, or want to contact me, I can be reached at: mrsrexy at gmail dot com.